description E.H. Carr Overview
E.H. Carr was a British historian, diplomat, journalist, and theorist of international relations. His 1961 book What Is History? examined how historians select, interpret, and relate facts, and it remains influential in discussions of historical method.
Carr also produced a large multivolume history of Soviet Russia, so his work is relevant both to debates about historical knowledge and to the study of the Soviet Union.
help E.H. Carr FAQ
What is E.H. Carr's What Is History? about?
What Is History?, published in 1961, is a book about historical method, evidence, interpretation, and the relationship between historians and the past. It began as lectures delivered by Carr at the University of Cambridge. [Overview](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Is_History)
What did E.H. Carr mean by saying history involves facts and interpretation?
Carr argued that facts do not become historical knowledge automatically because historians select, organize, and interpret them. A document can survive from the past without becoming historically significant until it is placed in an explanatory argument.
Was E.H. Carr only a historian of historical theory?
No. He was also a diplomat, journalist, international relations theorist, and major historian of the Soviet Union. What Is History? is his best-known methodological work, but it sits alongside a much larger body of political and diplomatic history.
Why is What Is History? still assigned in history courses?
The book gives students a direct argument about evidence, selection, causation, objectivity, and historical change. Its controversial claims also make it useful for comparing Carr with critics such as Geoffrey Elton.
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